Dr Dimity Dornan AO

Hearing health specialist and bionics advocate

2018 QLD Senior Australian of the Year

A speech pathologist for more than five decades, Dr Dimity Dornan has changed the lives of thousands of children and young adults. Through Hear and Say, an organisation she established 25 years ago, Dimity has devoted her career to helping deaf children to listen and speak by training their brains to use implantable bionic technologies, like the cochlear implant. Hear and Say currently provides services for more than 900 children and their families. Dimity also established several national and global research collaborations, as well as Hear and Say WorldWide, to expand the opportunities for deaf children in developing countries. As a past Chair and cofounder of First Voice, she played a significant role in raising the profile of hearing health globally. Recognised internationally for her work, Dimity is now building Human Bionics Interface, a global network of bionics thought leaders, researchers, clinicians, businesses, start-ups and investors collaborating to accelerate the delivery of bionic solutions that will address previously untreatable medical conditions.